Scholarships

College scholarships and graduate fellowships are forms of aid that help students pay for their education. Unlike student loans, scholarships and fellowships do not have to be repaid. Hundreds of thousands of scholarships and fellowships from several thousand sponsors are awarded each year.

Generally, scholarships and fellowships are reserved for students with special qualifications, such as academic, athletic or artistic talent. Awards are also available for students who are interested in particular fields of study, who are members of underrepresented groups, who live in certain areas of the country or who demonstrate financial need.

The best way to find scholarships for college and fellowships is to use a
personalized search, like
Fastweb,
that compares your background with a database of awards. Only
those awards that fit your profile are identified as matches.

There are several free scholarship databases available online. With more than 1.5 million scholarships worth more than $3.4 billion, the Fastweb scholarship search is the largest, most accurate and most frequently updated scholarship database. If you supply an email address, they will notify you when new awards that match your profile are added to the database. Fastweb also includes a college search and numerous other student resources.

Scholarships come in all shapes and sizes. Knowing and searching the types of scholarships that are out there will ensure that you find any and every scholarship for which you qualify.

Students who are awarded scholarships often need additional financial assistance. See the Loans section for information on student and parent loans. To find out about contest, grants and other aid options, visit the section discussing Other Types of Aid. Businesses and philanthropists who are thinking about sponsoring a new scholarship may find the Scholarship Design & Management section helpful.